AfterShock Comics Unleashes ‘Artemis & the Assassin’
Aftershock Comics released a new title this past week and it has been on my radar since Tuesday to get that story under my belt. Like so many around the globe, I’ve been relegated to working from home for at least a few days, which has mean no drive to work. Considering my commute is an hour each way, that time has been spent catching up on some much needed reading and Aftershock’s latest effort, Artemis and the Assassin, was destined to be part of that. Created by Stephanie Philips (Descendant), this series is already off to a heart-pounding start.
How about a case of cat and mouse, but with time traveling? That is what you can discover in the first issue in its most barebones sense, though it goes beyond that. While I am still trying to nail down who Artemis is after the first issue, the Assassin, Maya, is a very spite-driven woman who is far too good at what she does. Her century-hopping technology allows her to drop in and out of virtually any moment in the past in which a significant person of history happened to be. Rasputin, anyone?
Maya’s latest target happens to be a spy for the allies during World War II who knows as much as any allied general about upcoming events that will ultimately change the course of history for the better. Maya has other plans in mind and is looking to write her own historical path. This inevitable meeting creates one hell of a cliffhanger for the debut issue of the series, leaving this writer clamoring for its April 15th follow-up. I can’t say enough how I both love and despise Maya at the same time. There is very little said about her here and yet she is already such a solid character and so expertly developed.
Artist Francesca Frantini makes her comic book debut here and is teamed up with the skills of seasoned vet Meghan Hetrick, who previously worked on Image Comics’ Faith and DC’s JLA among many others.
Aftershock describes the first issue…
What happens when a time-traveling assassin and a spy from 1944 try to kill each other?
For a price, a top-secret assassination organization will travel through time and inter-fere with watershed moments. Trained as the agency’s top assassin, Maya is sent to kill Virginia Hall, the deadliest spy of WWII. Charged with carrying important plans about the invasion of Normandy to the allied troops, Virginia’s death would have a cataclysmic effect on WWII as we know it.
